Bears attempt to break into houses in High Tatras

The Vysoké Tatry (High Tatras) town council on Friday declared a state of emergency due to the frequent appearance of bears in inhabited areas, including five attempts by bears to break into people's houses. According to Ján Mokoš, the mayor of Vysoké Tatry, it's necessary to deal with the bears' brazen behaviour. "We have had occurrences of brown bears here in the past, but they had never approached inhabited zones so frequently," said Mokoš. The town police commander Miroslav Kolodzej, added that every household will receive written recommendations on how to deal with bears. For example, people should be cautious to go near waste containers after it gets dark. The town authority isn't authorised to shoot bears. There has been a ban on hunting bears for almost 25 years and experts say there are now some 1,400 bears in the wild in Slovakia.